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Saint Anthony the Great of Egypt

Perhaps the most effective tactic adopted by the adversary of man’s salvation has been to blind man to the reality of the spiritual warfare being waged for possession of his soul. We have consequently become spiritually flabby and easy prey for the enemy. To escape such a perilous condition we would do well to contemplate more often the examples of the saints who engaged in direct combat with the Evil One, unmasking his deceptions and

Finding the Barriers Within Ourselves

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 1, 2019 “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Third Thursday of Pascha: Restoration

The restoration of our true nature By Abbot Tryphon, May 3, 2016 Saint Seraphim, who lived deep in the Forest of Sarov, always greeted visitors with the words, “My joy”. This saint’s words bespoke of his continuous joyful state. His holiness was not a sadness, but a joyfulness that everyone encountered when coming into his presence. His whole goodness and kindness shown forth as a votive light in the darkness, and “a thousand around (him)

No Looking Back. When We’re Broken.

By Abbot Tryphon, October 11, 2019   Don’t hold on to guilt and shame There are many people who cling to memories of past sins, holding on to guilt and shame, reliving things long ago confessed, as though they happened yesterday. They struggle with regrets, often revisiting shame as though they were archeologists, digging for historical artifacts that must be preserved. Such is not the case with God, for His interest is not in our past,

Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent. The Ethos of Lent

By Fr. George Morelli The ethos of Lent for the committed Orthodox Christian is told to us by St. Dorotheus of Gaza. He likened it to a wake-up call, ‘a coming to one’s self’ (like the Prodigal Son) to find meaning for the entire year. The “great and saving forty days” are to wake us up to all times and seasons of all year. St. Dorotheus means more than this year only because each and

THE FALL OF THE NOUS OF MAN BEFORE AND AFTER CHRIST (Part I)

The ability of the nous of man to see God is not only its principal and higher ability, but it is also its central aim for which it was created by God. This, say the holy Fathers, was exactly the blessedness of Adam and Eve in Paradise: to see the Omniscient, Delightful, and Most Longed-for Face of their Visible and Invisible, their Approachable and Unapproachable Creator. God Himself is not only the invisible and inaccessible

The Lord’s Prayer (Part IV)

To be able to say the first sentence that we have discussed – ‘Deliver us from the evil one’ – requires such a reassessment of values and such a new attitude that we can hardly begin to say it otherwise than in a cry, which is as yet unsubstantiated by an inner change in us. We feel a longing which is not yet capable of achievement; to ask God to protect us in the trial

Saint Anthony the Great of Egypt

Perhaps the most effective tactic adopted by the adversary of man’s salvation has been to blind man to the reality of the spiritual warfare being waged for possession of his soul. We have consequently become spiritually flabby and easy prey for the enemy. To escape such a perilous condition we would do well to contemplate more often the examples of the saints who engaged in direct combat with the Evil One, unmasking his deceptions and